


A Field of Fireflies

by littlewanderergg



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Post-Devil May Cry 5, Rape, Reader-Insert, Recovery, Romance, Trauma, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:26:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21887311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlewanderergg/pseuds/littlewanderergg
Summary: “A firefly only has two months to live and yet they shine their brightest, hoping to find somebody--- anybody--- to see them, to understand them… and maybe even love them. That is, before they die… as alone as when they came into this world.”A year after the Qliphoth mission, Vergil saves a girl from being abused by her boss, out of a dare from V... the human voice in his head.The girl seems to be the human embodiment of powerlessness, with her helpless stutter and unsure stare. But what does it actually mean to be human? And who the hell is this girl?
Relationships: Vergil (Devil May Cry)/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	A Field of Fireflies

_ Humans are such weak creatures. _

__

_ When a person is born into this world, the person gets a full sense of nothingness. An endless parade of shapes and colors, but no words to describe what they are sensing. They go through their lives kicking and screaming, wallowing in a world of hurt. They get cut, they get scraped, they bleed… and yet they still go on living. _

_ But… what does it even mean to be human? Is there a deeper meaning to their lives? A more purposeful meaning to their suffering? Do they find it out before they die? Or do they die knowing it’s all meaningless? _

“Um… sir?” The barista at the other end of the counter started calling to Vergil who was lost in his thoughts, “Your order?”

As if waking up from his stupor, he answered with his stern voice, “English tea. Make it underworld hot.”

The cafe was nice and silent. You were clearing a table in the distance as you looked at the man who entered the cafe. He was tall as heck and had a brooding look on his face. The scowl marks on his brows look permanent, you thought. He looked so silent, but not peaceful. You had to look at the table you were clearing because you were scared he could erupt into an angry rage should anything set him off.   
  
At least, that’s what you thought.

“Alright. We’ll have your order ready for you in five minutes.” The barista told him with a smile. Although, Vergil knew she was just smiling to hide the fear she was feeling just by looking at him.

Vergil sunk back into his thoughts as he walked towards a table. It has been an entire year since he and his twin brother Dante returned from the underworld, he thought. The Qliphoth root has been uprooted and the demon spawn are scattered in far places. As far as the world was concerned, the world was at peace… But that peace did not touch him.

Vergil decided to take a seat at the furthest corner of the cafe. There weren’t a lot of people in the cafe today. It was the perfect place to read and quiet his mind. The shop was so noisy, with Dante always choosing to turn the jukebox on and playing some god forsaken metal music. He needed the silence and isolation. He needed to be alone with his thoughts.

“You don’t need to be alone with your thoughts, Vergil. You just wanted to be alone, period.” A voice rang from the seat across him. A young man with silvery white hair sat there, his arms crossed across his chest. He wore a leather trench coat vest and black pants. His skin was decorated with markings, like he was branded by something… but the brands have long since faded away into nothing.

“V…” Vergil whispered, barely audibly.

“Oh…” V gave out his signature smirk, “Don’t worry. No one can see me. Only you can. After all…” V leaned back into his chair, “I’m your last  _ nightmare _ .”

Vergil furrowed his brows even deeper as he clicked his tongue in disgust. He wanted peace and quiet, but here he was, being harassed by the very thing he wanted to forget. V, the part of him that was human. The part of him he couldn’t understand.

The part of him that he couldn’t bear to accept.

“Hey, Emma!” The barista on the counter called you, “Take this to that angry man in the corner.” She pointed to the man who was angrily staring at the space before him. You looked at the receipt to see his name: Vergil. You practically dragged your feet to where he was. You hesitated. You didn’t want him to bite your head off… he looked like the type who could do that.

Vergil simply tried to ignore V’s dry, snarky remarks by opening his book to read, but he was suddenly assaulted by a strong smell. It wasn’t foul, just overwhelming. His senses were overtaken by an image of a bush overly crowded with a bunch of roses, slowly maturing… some even rotting away. It was an extremely floral scent that punched his demonic sense of smell to oblivion. He looked around to find V gone but on the other side of his table was a girl, small in stature, and was wearing a trainee’s uniform.

“Umm…” You mumbled, stammering all over the few words you got out of your mouth, “O-one English t-tea for Vergil?” The tray on your hand was shaking. Vergil was unsure if it was because the cup was too heavy or that he was being too scary. Not that he cared, though. He simply nodded and you placed the tray on the table. You gave a little jolt when you touched the cup, seemingly forgetting that it was hot. You succeeded in bringing it before him the second time.

“W-will there b-be anyth-thing else, sir?” You asked, your stammer seemingly getting worse.

“No.” Vergil said, as darkly as he could. This made you jerk up and give him a swift nod as you turned on your heel and walked briskly away.

Vergil noticed that the scent drifted away with you. You must’ve been the one to carry that overpowering smell. However, he noticed that not a lot of others sensed it. The couple closer to the door didn’t even turn their heads towards your direction and the old man sitting close by didn’t even peek over his newspaper.

“I’m sure you’re noticing something, Vergil…” V returned, sitting once more in front of him, “You know roses when you smell them.”

“Ugh…” Vergil let loose that single exasperation from his lips as he raised his cup towards his lips to sip his tea. Unfortunately---

“What in the world…?” He spat out the tea in his cup as he tasted something very off. He lifted the tea bag still in the cup to find that the tea bag--- along with its paper wrapping--- was steeping in the boiling hot water inside.

V lifted a side of his lip, seemingly amused, “Ah, yes. The plot thickens…”

“Shut up.” Vergil gritted his teeth at him.

“Don’t be mad at me. I wasn’t the one who screwed up your tea.” V simply shrugged, “If you have a problem with it, bring it up to the manager.”

“Tch.” He clicked his teeth as he tightened his hold on his coat. He got the cup with the tea bag in it and approached the counter where the manager was standing, looking over the baristas. The manager looked like a man in his late 30’s, an entire decade younger than Vergil, and for some reason Vergil wanted to bash his head in for ruining his tea.

“Is that any way that a human should behave?” V said, his voice antagonizing. He was standing beside Vergil, looking at him with eyes that seemed to relish the anger that Vergil was feeling. This annoyed him even more.

Ignoring V, Vergil cleared his throat and called the manager’s attention. The manager turned to him with a smile and asked him what he could help him with.

“ _ Someone _ steeped my tea wrong.” Vergil chose his words carefully. He lifted the tea bag to show the manager what he meant. The manager looked at it and apologized as he took the cup.

“Which one of you steeped this tea?” The manager called out to the baristas and the cashier lady.

“Emma did, sir.” The cashier lady said as she pointed to the trainee who handed Vergil his cup just minutes ago.

The manager called your attention and you immediately walked towards the manager, shaking the entire time. As soon as you passed by Vergil, he was once again hit by the smell of overwhelming roses. He had to close his eyes and pinch his nose bridge to recenter himself.

“Sir, we’ll have a different cup sent to you in awhile. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.” The manager smiled at him, but Vergil could sense something darker behind his eyes. A brewing type of anger that he knew all too well. The manager grabbed your arm tightly and said, “You apologize, too.”

“I-I’m s-s-sorry, s-sir.” You stuttered as you bowed your head in shame. You didn’t even look Vergil in the eyes. In fact, it was only then that Vergil noticed that you were always looking at your feet or at your hands.

Vergil had to stop his eyes from rolling as he turned his back to return to his seat, but V stopped him from fully returning. Vergil was about to protest silently but V sneakily pointed at the direction of the girl, Emma, and the manager. Vergil took a seat near the door that says “Authorized Personnel Only” and listened in as the manager practically dragged you into the room. 

“Listen.” V said, nodding towards the direction of the room.

Normal people couldn’t hear the conversation, given the thick door and walls that surrounded them, but that was no problem for Vergil and his enhanced senses. He focused all his attention towards the inside of the door and listened attentively.

“That is your  _ fifth _ blunder this week, Emma!” The manager practically screamed at you. You let out a shocked squeal, “How could you leave the tea bag in its wrapping paper? Did your mother never teach you  _ anything _ ?”

“N-n-no, sir. I’m-m s-s-sorry.” You practically whispered, shaking and stuttering at the same time.

“No wonder you’re so fucking  _ useless!  _ I wonder why we even keep you!” Every word seeped with anger and you started hyperventilating, “You should be  _ thankful  _ that this cafe is severely undermanned and we need all the help we can get…  _ but you’re barely helping! _ ”

“I-I-I’m s-sorry…” Your stammering was getting muddled by your body shaking.

“Yeah, right! You should be sorry!” The manager barked at you, “What a useless little bitch! Can’t even make tea properly… Why don’t you just go and kill yourself, huh?”

You were silent, but your breathing told Vergil that you were shaking menacingly.

“What? You’re gonna cry? Go ahead! See if I fucking care!” The manager raged on. And with you giving out a pained shriek after a slapping sound, Vergil’s frown deepened.

“So… should I tell you what you should do, or…?” V said, playing with his fringe absentmindedly. He obviously heard what Vergil was hearing. His tone was a challenge for Vergil to act upon something. Seemingly unable to resist the challenge, Vergil rose up and stormed the door. There he saw the manager with his arm in the air and you holding your cheek. Your short hair covering your face.

“Sir! You’re not allowed back here.” The manager immediately shifted into his bright smile, but Vergil knew better.

“Your name is Emma, right?” He immediately turned to you, fully ignoring the manager.

“Y-y-yes…?” You looked at him, confused.

“Follow me.” Vergil turned around and started to walk out, but when he saw you looking at him with questions in your eyes, he turned back and grabbed you by the collar and dragged you out of the room.

Panic erupted in your eyes as Vergil dragged you into the store but you walked briskly behind him. The manager rushed to chase after him and managed to grab your hand. You froze, causing Vergil to stop and turn around.

“Sir, this is clearly not how we deal with customer complaints.” The manager tried to give an excuse, trying to make it look like Vergil is the one overreacting. He doesn’t know that Vergil knew about him slapping you in the face, “Please let Emma go. I’ll deal with her.”

“...so you can slap her across the face again?” Vergil bit. Venom oozed onto his words. This took all the onlookers--- baristas and customers alike--- aback.

The manager gasped, “I didn’t do such a thing!”

Vergil looked at you, your eyes looking down and to the side. A red palm print was starting to appear on the side of your cheek. You remained quiet, but your breathing was shallow.

“I absolutely hate liars, you scum.” Vergil narrowed his eyes at the manager. He spoke to you, his tone strict and demanding, “Go get your things. You’re leaving this cafe with me.”

You hurriedly nodded and headed towards the underside of the cash register to get your backpack. The manager tried to hold onto you, but Vergil summoned his blue swords and launched one at the manager, pinning his sleeve to a wall. The manager was shocked, but Vergil was seething. Once you got your bag and was behind Vergil, he continued to walk towards the door. You followed him, shaking.

After walking quite a distance for five minutes, You cleared your throat.

“Um… s-s-sir?” You said, almost a whisper.

“Speak up. I can’t hear you.” Vergil spoke, not turning neither his back nor his head to face you.

“Th-th-thank y-you.” You tried to say it louder, “Y-you d-didn’t have to h-help m-me.”

“I did it because I don’t like power being abused.” Vergil spoke, “Especially, when someone so weak abuses it.” He continued to walk, paying little to no attention to you who was following behind him.

“O-oh…” You scratched the back of your neck, unsure of how to feel. You then untied the apron on your nape, and bundled it up. You looked at it and sighed. You knew your boss was a dick and most of the other baristas hated you for no good reason… but you liked working in the cafe. It gave you time to think and learn a lot of new things… even if it did take you a lot of time before you could learn things.

“Where do you live?” Vergil asked, stopping momentarily to turn and look at you and breaking the silence.

“Huh?” You looked at him, a bit shocked that he was actually looking your way. You averted your gaze and looked at your feet, “I uh… l-live in th-the p-p-park.”

“You mean… Central Park?” Vergil’s brows buried themselves deeper into his forehead. He looked even more menacing than ever. Not that you saw… you were too busy looking at your feet.

“Y-yeah. I w-was l-living there until I s-saved up enough m-money to g-get a p-place to s-s-stay in… N-now, I just n-need to l-look for a n-new j-j-job…” You scratched your elbow, more a gesture of self-comfort than to scratch an itch. Vergil’s eyes narrowed.

Vergil knew after a few seconds of leaving the cafe… that he hated you. You were small, always unsure, spoke with a stutter, never looked anyone in the eye, and was constantly apologizing for things that wasn’t your fault. You stood for the very thing that Vergil absolutely despises ---  _ powerlessness _ .

He shifted his weight on his feet and huffed, “So… you’re homeless.”

It was more of a statement of fact than a question.

“K-k-kinda.” You shrugged. You held onto the straps of your backpack tighter as you sighed, “W-w-well, th-thank y-you for ev-v-vrything, s-sir. I n-need t-to g-get going.” You turned around and took a few steps away, still looking down at your feet.

“You  _ have  _ to be an idiot to not see an opportunity here, Vergil.” V suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside Vergil, causing Vergil to growl a bit in annoyance, “I know you hate the girl, but she’s homeless and she’ll need to look for a job… but…” V stepped in front of Vergil to catch his full attention, “You have a solution to that…  _ don’t you _ ?”

Vergil hated V, too… but he had to agree. He knew of a place where you could stay in and work at the same time.

“Wait.” Vergil called out. You turned around, her eyebrows raised in a silent question.

“Follow me. I know a place where you can stay… and work at the same time.” Vergil grumbled.

“Huh? O-oh…” You said, “A-are y-you s-sure?”

“Yes. Now, come on.”

V smiled his signature smirk as Vergil started walking, “Atta boy.”

“Shut up.” Vergil mumbled, barely audibly.

“I d-didn’t s-say anything…” You answered, thinking he was talking to you.

Vergil rubbed his face with his hand. What exactly has he gotten himself into?

\--- --- --- ---

It took the both of you a while before you reached the building Vergil was talking about. It was hidden away in the farthest part of the town, but the moment you saw the sign, you immediately knew where you were.

Devil May Cry, the agency responsible for saving the city from the Qliphoth infestation. 

The wide double doors and hard concrete steps welcomed them as Vergil pushed the double doors open violently. You stopped under the door as Vergil entered a cold, practically empty lobby. The floor was littered with empty pizza boxes, torn up pieces of paper, and beer bottles. Dante, a man who looked almost identical to Vergil, was on top of a ladder as he was trying to fix the ceiling fan above his desk. He was wearing a red coat and a grey shirt. He had a screwdriver in his mouth and his hands were on the fan.

“Hey, Verge. Back early?” He joyfully commented without looking. Vergil just simply growled impatiently. Dante looked at Vergil and saw that you were standing by the door. You didn’t dare enter Devil May Cry without being invited in. You didn’t feel like she belonged there; like you were an outsider.

Well, you  _ were _ , if you were going to be honest.

Dante gave his signature playful smirk and spoke, “Yo, Verge. Who’s the little lady you brought with you?”

“Introduce yourself.” Vergil turned to you, stoicly demanding that you introduce yourself.   
  
“Hi, I’m Em-m-ma.” You stuttered, still looking down at your feet.

“Emma...? Got a last name?” Dante asked.

“G-g-green.” You continued, “E-emma G-green.”

“Well, hello. I’m Dante, that idiot’s twin brother.” Dante tried to bow like a gentleman when disaster struck. As he leaned forward for a bow, all his weight toppled over the entire ladder and tipped it to the side. The entire ladder started falling slowly… then, quickly until it reached the ground with Dante still on it.

Vergil just frowned on how stupid his brother could be sometimes, but he was more shocked at the fact that you, without warning, seemingly ran to Dante’s side. You were immediately on your knees beside a squirming Dante on the floor, looking at him with concern.

Dante simply grunted as he cradled the arm he landed on. With a wince, he said, “Ouch. I think I sprained my shoulder…”   
  
“Are you okay?” You said, your stutter seemingly vanishing… but Dante didn’t know that. Vergil was too annoyed to even listen.

“I’m fine. My shoulder just hurts.” Dante smiled through the pain, like he always does.

“Maybe I can help?” You offered, showing your hands and slowly reaching out for Dante’s shoulders.   
  
“Have at it. Be my guest.” Dante tried to shrug, but a sharp pain erupted from his shoulders. Vergil was already slowly heading toward the stairs when you slowly peeled off Dante’s coat and shirt to expose his shoulder. Vergil only snuck a peek when he saw you run your hands through Dante’s shoulder. You were seemingly just touching it, like how a person would handle something delicate. You had your eyes closed and were focused on the area and silent. Moments later…   
  
“Wow! It’s gone!” Dante swung his arm around, “The pain is gone! How’d you do that?”   
  
“U-u-umm…” You gulped and started looking at your knees.   
  
“Yes, exactly  _ how  _ did you do that?” Vergil narrowed his eyes once more, going back down the stairs.

“I d-d-don’t know. I’ve al-lways seemed t-to be able to d-do that.” You replied, your stutter coming back with a vengeance.

“I think…” Dante said, smiling very widely, “I have just the job for you!”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! I am BACK!
> 
> This time, I'm trying to do a Vergil x Reader fic. I named the reader Emma... because it's going to be relevant in the future, so I hope you don't mind.
> 
> Also, as I'm struggling with writing this fic (because it involves Vergil and I don't want to be sliced by the Yamato, thank you very much) I probably would write it very slowly. So I apologize in advance for uploading too slowly.
> 
> This is a short first chapter, and I think it too me a month before I could write it. What do you think?
> 
> Please comment it down below! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Anyway, bye bye for now... and I LOVE YOU LIKE VERGIL LIKES POWER!!!
> 
> UPDATE: I changed the pronoun of the reader from "she" to "you". I felt more comfortable using the second person narrator. It felt more... natural. So, I hope you guys understand. I also added a bit more detail to help give reader a slight background. Hope it helps!


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